How do you dig deep?

You know, when the wind is howling, the rain lashing and you have a monster climb before you are home. Or you have hit the wall, cold tired etc. What do you do to pull through, focus or whatever.

Reason I ask I had this moment this evening. Kept thinking of the shower, sofa and then whiskey in front of the fire. I am now in front of the fire. Love it.

I can’t afford a taxi.
I have no one to call to pick me up.
I can’t walk more than about 2 miles.

I tend to avoid such situations these days but in the past visualising a hot, soapy tit **** kept my mind off the misery 🙂

At the moment I tend to get angry with myself, however from now on I’m going to be adopting jota’s hot, soapy tit **** technique:)

Lol. Next time I’m struggling that thought will appear in my mind now. Nice. Cheers.

I tend to avoid such situations these days but in the past visualising a hot, soapy tit **** kept my mind off the misery

That was inspired! ….and really made me chuckle…..right, back the ‘I’m so wired’…context 🙄

+1. Just. Keep. Going.

TBH Robert Paulson doesn’t float my boat but each to there own likes

Bigger spade

You are King of that hill. Everyone else is a wimp for not being there. Then just laugh at the absurdity of it all. Many people have made it through far worse adverse situations. It’s not that bad. Just keep turning those legs. More random thoughts… Oh look I’m nearly home.

I just think that the faster I go, the quicker I’ll finish. If I stop, that just delays getting home.

right, back the ‘I’m so wired’…context

Not with you there, sorry

I joined the army at 16 and had digging deep beaten into me by my big hairy welsh guards rsm

Suitcase full of courage?

Cake

Last time I had this was when I was 110 miles into a 150 mile ride and hadn’t slept for 24 hours.
I was driven on by the fact that the sooner I got home the less of a bollocking I’d get from the Mrs.

With a shovel.

I swear at myself

I channel Jens Voight

‘Come on F##ker, you’re in charge, get that ###king bike up the road and stop being a Nancy’ you know that sort of thing

I used to kind of go into a neutral blank mindset and keep pedalling, and detach myself from the suffering. Recently for ‘life stuff’ I’ve found Grrrr seems to work pretty well. You can’t have too much Grrrr 😉

Main thing is to not think about the cold and tiredness and the wind, your body and DNA aren’t going to let you slump in a heap while out riding I don’t suppose, unless you bonk I guess. For that there’s Jelly Babies. 🙂

I used to kind of go into a neutral blank mindset and keep pedalling, and detach myself from the suffering.

Same, I completely zone out.

I picture the summer miles and absolutely ripping the legs off everyone I know on any given climb because I’ve been out all winter and in all weathers, suffering, putting in the miles while they were sat indoors getting weaker. It doesn’t necesarily work by the time the Summer comes around but who cares by then, it’s Summer, everything’s great and all the pain is forgotten.

If it’s sleeting and dark cycling back to Sheffield from near Burbage I zone out, it’s kind of bleak in that situation so there doesn’t seem like there’s very much else to do I guess, where sliding around in snow calls for a different kind of digging deep, a bit more ‘grrrr’ than zoning out.

I think of my dad going through his next chemo. His constant sickness, absolute fatigue, but knowing he can’t stop because quitting means giving up for good. And I think that no matter how shit I feel, it’s nothing in comparison, and above all I’m here because I want to be.

And I know I’m made out of bits of him, and I know for that reason I can go on. It’s only a bike ride, it’s not serious.
Chapeau Dad. Almost a year done since. Keep kicking it’s arse.

Get off and push.

I think about my great great uncle Henry Bowers walking across Antarctica with Cherry Garrard and Wilson in the middle of winter on almost total darkness to collect penguin eggs. And then as if having completed “The Worst Journey In The World” he wasn’t enough he went on to meet his end on the pole journey while never once making any complaint about what they endured.

” shut up legs”

I use my old picture of myself to mentally scald myself with things like “listen you don’t want to be that fat **$*%*%*$ again do you “

Wow, some of you think too much.

Relax the shoulders, straighten your back, stretch out, lift that furrowd brow, drop your jaw and then smile. Pace off, roll out for a couple of hundred meters whilst doing all of this then pace back on again.

What doesn’t kill you etc

“It’s not gonna get any warmer if I slow down”

It’s not gonna get any warmer if I slow down

and, remembering previous against-all-odds conquerings of hills and rain.

I had to dig deep last night..

I was just basking in the warm afterglow of a very satisfying soapy tit ****, when I noticed we were out of wine and fags..
The 24 hour garage near me stops serving booze at midnight and I had about 7 minutes to get there..

I made it with two minutes to spare 😀

“Stop whinging. Joe Simpson made it so what’s your problem?”

That’s a hell of a change you made there weeksy.

(You’re the one on the right, yeah..?)

I think of my late best friend and riding buddy giving me s*** and buzzing my back wheel, I can often hear him in my head when out on rides, it always makes me smile widely and push like f***.

Nice one Weeksey.
I have the same Before and After photos, except they are in the opposite order.

Yunki – must’ve been all that stretching you did to perform the “soapy” beforehand

impressive, all the same

theotherjonv – Member
I think of my dad going through his next chemo………..

and that is the difference between digging deep because you have to rather than you want to I guess

I find remembering all the times I’ve been pretty all in and still made it help – shuts out negatives

Hermann Buhl was my inspiration when I was younger – used to keep his biography in my desk draw at work to remind what life was really all about

I find I can pull objects towards me by staring at them really hard. That, and relaxing the shoulders as bikebuoy says.